Written on June 4, 2010 at 4:34 am, by Eric Cressey
1. I’m headed to Providence first thing tomorrow to speak at the Perform Better Summit. If you’re in attendance, be sure to introduce yourself and say hello; it’s always great to meet my readers.
2. It’s the time of year where all the all-star and league MVP awards are handed out around here as playoffs are just getting underway. Here’s a great article about one Cressey Performance athlete, Carl Anderson of Lincoln-Sudbury, who won the Dual County League MVP as he set school records for homeruns and RBIs: Diamond Natural, If a Bit Rough
3. Likewise, another CP athlete, Jeff Bercume in the Oakland A’s organization, just got a little love: Bercume’s Game Going North.
4. HERE is some recent research to support the use of accommodating resistance in the form of bands in resistance training. Many of us in the powerlifting community have anecdotally been able to verify its efficacy, but it’s nice to see some research out there that confirms what a lot of folks have insisted for quite some time.
It’s important to interpret this research with caution, though. Using bands on top of free weight resistance is fantastic, but it can really beat up your joints if you use it for too long without taking a break. I always found that the added eccentric stress really beat up my shoulders and elbows on the bench press if I used bench presses against bands in my training cycles for more than three weeks without a break from them.
5. Researchers from the University of Nebraska report that energy expenditure in untrained college students is the same on ellipticals and treadmills when working at a self-selected intensity. An unnamed researcher from the Cressey School of Hard Knocks reports that working at a “self-selected intensity” on these modalities requires about as much effort and coordination as watching NASCAR.
Call me crazy, but I think most college-age folks would be better off hitting things with sledgehammers as exercise; it’s just way more badass.
“Eric and Mike did a great job of taking complex information and making it easy to understand for the viewer. I really liked the collaboration between the clinical side of things, and the training side. I now have a much better understanding of how to effectively assess the shoulder. More importantly, I am now better equipped to take that information and improve the training strategies and techniques for my clients.”
I’d be interested to see a blog post as to how you are applying your work with sledgehammers and where your relative contraindications lie.
Several years back I was using them frequently in the work capacity realm with sets lasting up to a minute at times. I thought they were beneficial but I’ve gotten away from them as I did not have an available tire.
June 4th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Eric,
I’d be interested to see a blog post as to how you are applying your work with sledgehammers and where your relative contraindications lie.
Several years back I was using them frequently in the work capacity realm with sets lasting up to a minute at times. I thought they were beneficial but I’ve gotten away from them as I did not have an available tire.
Regards,
Carson Boddicker